Cardiff City take to the field at the New York Stadium on Saturday knowing they cannot afford many more of the late goals that have left them rooted to the bottom of the table.

Leeds United scored twice in the final half hour last Saturday to pile the pressure on the Bluebirds, while Reading, QPR, Fulham and Norwich have all sealed precious points in the final throes of battle.

Even in their only win of the season against Blackburn Rovers, Cardiff made life difficult for themselves by gifting a consolation goal to the visitors late on.

Paul Trollope's team take on a Rotherham United side that have conceded more goals than any team in the division but the Head Coach has called on his players to be patient in order to prevent another sucker punch.

He said: "I think it's partly [conceding late] just the nature of the game, because of us not taking our chances we've ended up chasing it, maybe in one or two of the games left ourselves a little bit exposed. But I can't look back at the Fulham game and say that because we've had a barnstorming second period and got ourselves into the lead and were looking to hold on.

Cardiff almost sealed an excellent three points at Fulham

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"Of course, we're looking at all psychological and tactical aspects, if we're chasing then to make sure we do it in the right manner and not leave ourselves exposed, or to try and see things through if we're ahead. There have been too many late goals, mostly because of the nature of the game. One way to solve that of course is to go ahead in the game."

The Bluebirds initially responded well to going behind against Leeds United but were cut open on the counter by the likes of Kemar Roofe and Pablo Hernandez. Leeds scored their second in the 82nd minute to effectively kill the contest with ten minutes still left in the game.

Should Cardiff find themselves behind tomorrow, Trollope wants them to show more composure in order to stay in the game.

For all Rotherham's troubles this season, they are yet to be beaten in the league at home.

Trollope said: "It's always a balance as to how many men you throw forward and keeping the back door shut. Good teams are built on solid foundations and clean sheets, everyone wants attacking football and free-flowing football, scoring lots of goals, but the teams who do well in any division are the teams who get it right at both ends.

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"It's an area we've looked because whether you're chasing or whether you're ahead, the balance needs to be right. You could be looking at a goal in the second minute of injury time to win you it or to grab a draw, looking at the Leeds game there were certainly things we could have done better in terms of chasing the game. We did lose a little bit of shape and left ourselves exposed to the second goal, which killed the game when we should have been pushing and building a head of steam in the right manner."

Ultimately, however, the manager knows it's about taking chances.

If Cardiff don't start taking them soon, it will be a very long winter indeed.